Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Old Time Tonic

It's about this time every year that I'm reminded of a ritual that took place virtually every year when I was growing up. Although the winter blahs weren't nearly as bad, perhaps due to the mild weather so far, as in some years, they are here none the less. Going almost anywhere from where I have always lived means going down hill. One choice is a recently upgraded and widened road and the other, except for paving, is not much different than it was as far back as I can remember. It is along that less traveled road that the beginning of the ritual begins. The road basically follows a stream valley and winds back a forth crossing the stream at least four times in a mile and a half. Several places along that road grows a short, bushy tree we call Spice Wood or Spice Bush and that is what we need to get started on chasing the winter blahs off.

Spice Wood is best identified in early spring when the buds are just opening. At first glance you might think you're seeing forsythia. But the yellow freshly formed leaves soon leave no doubt that you were seeing Spice Wood and it was now a bit late to use it for the tonic that I and many generations before me have come to give ourselves assurance that although we may have to endure another snow or two or three, spring is on the way and the daylight hours are undeniably longer than they were just a short while ago. I stopped today and cut off a small branch filled with those delightful almost spherical buds just as we have been doing for so long and fetched it home to brew up the magical Spice Wood tea.

Boiling the twigs fills the house with a special aroma not quite like any other. Somehow your senses tell you that this is helping even before it gets put in a cup with a bit of milk and sugar and then warms you all over as almost nothing else can. As these things tend to happen, today I created a new variation on the traditional Spice Wood tea. Having just cut up a pineapple, the core sat on the counter and said, "Don't throw me away. Put me in the pot with the Spice Wood." How could I refuse? I'm now on the outside of my first cup of 2016 Spice Wood / Pineapple spring tonic. But I suspect it is not the last.

Just as with all good things, Spice Wood connects me with the past while encouraging me into the future. Knowing what has come before us is essential, keeping that which was good and taking it with us being thankful to the Creator who has provided it all is what I encourage my good readers to do. If you can find some Spice Wood, brew up a tonic that connects you to past and present and future.


1 comment:

  1. Sounds better than the still you were considering back in the day!

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